zooplankton

/ˈzəʊ.ə.plaŋ(k).tən/

//ˈzəʊ.ə.plaŋ(k).tən// noun

"zooplankton" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“zooplankton” is uncommon English (frequency #59,142 among 265 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,142
frequency rank, English
265
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Free-floating small protozoa, crustaceans (such as krill), etc. and the eggs and larvae from larger animals.

Corpus desk

Index EN-zooplankton · zooplankton · English

zooplankton · rank #59,142 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,142
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 265
  • PHOTO-FINISH zesty

Nearest frequency peer: zesty (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “zooplankton”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “zooplankton” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zooplankton
PropertyValue
Headwordzooplankton
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈzəʊ.ə.plaŋ(k).tən/
Letters11
Frequency rank#59,142
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “zooplankton” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).zooplanktonfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “zesty” (#59,140), “Zuni” (#59,144), “Zacharias” (#59,138). Among 265 “Z” headwords, “zooplankton” is #59,142. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zooplankton is uncommon English at frequency #59,142 among 265 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈzəʊ.ə.plaŋ(k).tən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Free-floating small protozoa, crustaceans (such as krill), etc. and the eggs and larvae from larger animals.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for zooplankton, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From zoo- + plankton. The correct English form is zooplankton, spelled Z-O-O-P-L-A-N-K-T-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Free-floating small protozoa, crustaceans (such as krill), etc. and the eggs and larvae from larger animals.

Etymology

From zoo- + plankton.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "zooplankton"?
"zooplankton" is spelled Z-O-O-P-L-A-N-K-T-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈzəʊ.ə.plaŋ(k).tən/.
What does "zooplankton" mean?
As a noun, "zooplankton" means: Free-floating small protozoa, crustaceans (such as krill), etc. and the eggs and larvae from larger animals.
How do you pronounce "zooplankton"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zooplankton" is /ˈzəʊ.ə.plaŋ(k).tən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "zooplankton"?
From zoo- + plankton. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "zooplankton", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list